It's never been a better time to find a new job but do employers realize it?

Job prospects in Canadaare the best they've been in decades,employment experts say,butmany businesses seem to have missed the memo.

According to an annual salary survey, 63 per cent of employers expect the flourishingeconomy to boost their bottom lines in 2019, but less than a quarter plan to raise salaries more than three per cent.

About 4,000 Canadian employers and employees responded tothe 2019 Hays Canada Salary Guide. The online surveywasconducted by recruiting firm Hays PLC in late summer and early fall of 2018, and has margin of error of plus or minus2.19 per cent.

Three-quarters of employers said ashortage of skilled workers has heightened stress and workloads of existing staff.

That makes sense given that the national unemployment rate hit a 40-year low in November,and job vacancies totalling551,000 nationwide are up in almost every province and territory.

"Jobs are pretty plentiful and we see that employers have really strong demand for workers," saidBrendon Bernard,an economist at job-search company Indeed Canada.

Of course the situation isn't rosy everywhere. "In oil-producing provinces, conditions really haven't made a full rebound since the decline in oil prices," Bernard said.

But across much of the country,there are compelling signs that labour shortages will cause significant operating difficulties if employers don't take proactive steps to not only attract new talent, but keep the staff they've got.

The fear of moving jobs has gone away for most people.- Rowan O'Grady, president of Hays Canada

Indeed ishearingfrom employers about challenges filling roles, Bernard said.And both the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Federationof Independent Businesses have notedlabour shortagesare becoming a problem for day-to-daybusiness.

It's not just landing new hires that businesses need to worry about.

Rowan O'Grady, president of Hays Canada, said the surveyalso found almost 90 per centof people are open to hearing about new opportunities.

"That's a testament to the confidence people have in the job market," he said."It shows that the fear of moving jobs has gone away for most people."

Should you have to quit to get better pay, opportunity?

There's also a disconnect between the reality of a tight job marketand Canadian business practices, said O'Grady.

"The one bit that doesn't actually make sense is the very conservative approach to salary increases," he said."Only about 21 to22 per cent [of employers] are planning on offering threeper centor more increase to their staff for 2019."

Five years ago,that number was around 42 per cent,he said.

That's puzzling, Grady said, given more than 90 per centof respondents say they expect the economy to be the same or better than it was in 2018, and that more than halfof businessesplan to add staffin the year ahead.

The Hays survey found that any increase in payroll budget isbeing spent attracting new hires, fillingholes a companyhas today, instead of working to prevent futurestaff departures.

There's risk in that, saidBernard.

"One thing about the tighter labour market, it doesn't just mean that employers have to think about attracting new hires, but they also have to be cognizant that their current employees might have options outside of their workplace," he said."So being competitive on compensation is important to retain your own workers as well."

Human resourcesdepartments can be too slow to switch to the"employee-centric" outlook needed in a booming job market, saidCorey Phelps, associate dean of executive education atMcGill'sDesautelsFaculty of Management.

"Organizations need to think about their value propositions for employees," he said.

Not justdollars

Salary isn't the only important piece of the puzzle, he said. Today's workplace needs to pay better attention to providing staff with work they find meaningful.

"Millennials are very purpose-driven individuals," saidPhelps. "They've seen their baby boomer parents, who went through 60-hour workweeks to climb the corporate ladder. They're saying, 'I don't want to do that. I want more work-life balance.'"

Our HR systems have been designed for previous generations. They're not working formillennials.- Corey Phelps, associate dean of executive education atMcGill

On average, millennials are less concerned with advancement and more concerned with growth, he said. Many like to do project-based work that allows for variety, and they value good company culture.

"Our HR systems have been designed for previous generations;they're not working for millennials," saidPhelps.

"If we don't adapt our approach, we won't be able to attract these folks and we won't be able to keep them.And that's especially problematic in a tight labour market."

Aligning values

LauraMindorffand her husband runtwo small businesses in Ottawa:a digital design firm and a softwarecompany.

Though her current operations total just 13 people, she's done a lot of recruiting for people with in-demand skills, such as graphic designers and software developers.

"People wantto work for companies where they feel their values are aligned," she said.

Her efforts to retain staff range from things likebiweekly one-on-one meetings, where "the employee gets to talk about anything they want," to fun traditions like "fantastic food Friday," with free breakfast in the morningand beerin the afternoon.

Chris Farley Ratcliffe, who works in non-profit management in Ottawa, has experienced the growing strength of thejob market. After landing a six-month contract in early 2018, he started looking for permanent work again in September.

"There were very definitely more opportunities in the second half of the year," he said. "I felt more optimistic and I was doing interviews pretty well every weekfor maybe a month-and-a-half."

These included some for jobs he felt were "a bit of a longshot."

Oil and gas sector the big exception

But in Alberta, many are still unemployed or underemployed, saidTara Dragon, an HR consultant in Edmonton.

"There's lots of examples of people with professional backgrounds engineers, geologists whoweren't able to find work in the oil and gas industry, and they've taken roles with less responsibility, less salary."

As the founder of Work Evolution, a business that promotes flexible employment, Dragon saidsheencourages those people"to think unconventionally about their work circumstances."

That could mean working remotelyfor employers in other parts of country or even abroad.

But she also invites them to consider transferringtheir skills toup-and-coming industries, such asclean tech.

"If experienced peopleare willing to changetheir industry, maybe learn some new things, those roles are out there for them."